Brooklyn’s basketball power couple is breaking up personally, but not professionally: Joe and Clara Wu Tsai are divorcing after nearly 30 years of marriage while keeping their sports empire intact. The split changes the family story behind the Nets and Liberty, not the teams’ immediate leadership structure.
In a report published Friday, the New York Post said the couple mutually decided to end their marriage with “great respect” for one another. Joe and Clara married in October 1996 and have three adult children, Dash, Alex and Jacob.
The basketball jobs remain clearly divided. Joe Tsai’s Nets biography lists him as the team’s governor and chairman of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, while Clara Wu Tsai’s official profile identifies her as BSE’s vice chair and governor of the New York Liberty.
How The Tsais Built Brooklyn’s Sports Empire
The couple’s New York sports takeover began with the Liberty. The WNBA’s 2019 announcement said an entity owned by Joe Tsai and his family had received approval to purchase the team, after which the league’s long-neglected franchise began a major reset.
Months later, the NBA approved Joe Tsai’s purchase of the remaining interest in the Nets, giving him full ownership of the team and Barclays Center. The NBA’s announcement described Tsai as the Nets’ new principal owner and governor.
The Liberty’s move from Madison Square Garden and Westchester County Center to Barclays Center made the relationship especially visible in Brooklyn. The team began playing home games at Barclays in 2020, and its official history now lists a 2024 WNBA championship among the franchise’s achievements.
What Changes For The Nets And Liberty
For fans, the immediate answer is very little. The Post reported that Joe will remain governor of the Nets, Clara will remain governor of the Liberty, and both plan to continue owning the teams with professional management in place.
The couple also intends to keep working together as business partners and involve their children in the long-term future of their companies. That arrangement leaves the sports operation looking less like a breakup-driven ownership shuffle and more like a carefully separated family enterprise.
The Tsais’ Brooklyn footprint has also extended well beyond basketball. In a 2020 statement, the Brooklyn Nets announced a $50 million, 10-year commitment from the couple’s foundation toward social justice and economic mobility initiatives, with a priority focus on Brooklyn.
Joe is also chairman of Alibaba, but the Post reported that the divorce will not affect his ownership of Alibaba shares or his role at the company. For Brooklyn sports fans, the headline is personal; the teams, at least for now, remain on the same organizational course.
